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To improve rural connectivity, greater collaboration is needed between rural development networks and the European Broadband Competence Offices (BCO) Network. A priority of the BCO Network is supporting rural broadband deployment, but too often, BCOs and rural broadband project promoters are unaware of one another. Choices made in the early phase of a project, however, have important consequences, such as technology choice on funding eligibility. Such advice is a core function of BCOs. BCO and project promoter partnerships are therefore key to building more successful rural broadband networks.

On 18 February 2019, Hungary became the 29th country to sign the Declaration creating a European Blockchain Partnership. The declaration was signed by Mr László György, Minister of State for Economic Strategy and Regulation, Ministry for Innovation and Technology, in the presence of Claire Bury, Deputy Director-General for the European Commission’s Directorate-General Communications Networks, Content and Technology (CNECT).

Are you an open source software ethical hacker? The European Commission invites you to find security vulnerabilities in 15 open source software projects, which are widely used by the EU institutions. Rewards range from EUR 3,000 to EUR 25,000. An additional 20% bonus will be offered for providing a fix for the detected vulnerabilities.

The European Commission launches a call for tender for a framework contract, divided in two lots. The purpose of this call for tender is to obtain support for preparation and implementation of evaluations, fitness checks and impact assessments, as well as for the collection and analysis of evidence in the area of digital policies.

30 Legislative initiatives were presented by the European Commission since 2015. 28 Initiatives were agreed between the European Parliament, the Council of the EU and the European Commission. There are 2 DSM Commission legislative initiatives on the table which the European Parliament and the Council
need to agree.

"I believe that we must make much better use of the great opportunities offered by digital technologies, which do not know any borders. To do so, we will need to have the courage to break down national silos in telecoms regulation, in copyright and data
protection legislation, in the management of radio waves and in the application of competition law. That way, we can ensure that consumers can access services, music, movies and sports events on their electronic devices wherever they are in Europe." - Jean-Claude Juncker

Are you planning to submit a proposal to the 2019 calls in the area of digitising industry? A web-based info session will offer all the details for applicants interested in the relevant calls with deadlines in the coming months (28/3/2019 and 2/4/2019).

The European Commission launches a targeted consultation on the review of the Recommendation on relevant markets in the electronic communications sector adopted in 2014 (2014/710/EU). The aim is to gather information on the state of play and developments of wholesale markets and assess current and potential markets susceptible to ex ante regulation in the sector. The results of the targeted consultation will support the Commission’s preparations of the new Recommendation to be adopted by 21 December 2020.

The European High Performance Computing Joint Undertaking (EuroHPC JU) has launched its first calls for expressions of interest, to select the sites that will host the Joint Undertaking’s first supercomputers (petascale and precursor to exascale machines) in 2020.